Category: Parkinson's Disease: Genetics
Objective: To assess survival in a large cohort of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, and to determine if survival correlates with MAPT and APOE gene variants.
Background: Several large cohort studies have assessed genetic risk associated with survival in PD, including LRRK2, GABA, GBA, and alpha-synuclein. MAPT and APOE have been variably linked to risk of development of dementia in PD, but have not been examined in association with survival.
Method: We utilized the ‘Molecular Epidemiology of PD’ Mayo Clinic database that enrolled 1103 PD patients from 1996-2007 who resided in Minnesota or surrounding states. For all patients, genomic DNA was stored with IRB approval and informed consent. Survival time was calculated by review of medical records, public archives, patient letter, or telephone contact. The primary outcome was time to death, stratified by sex and age-at-onset. A secondary analysis evaluated the association of MAPT and APOE genotypes with survival, using Cox proportional hazard regression.
Results: There was follow-up survival data on 1060 PD patients, 697 (66%) of whom were male, with mean age-of-onset 63.0 years (males 63.1vs. females 63.0, p=0.92). Of the 1060 patients, 900 (85%) were deceased. Median survival was 15.4 years after diagnosis (15.0 males, 16.5 females) (p=0.004). Deceased males (n=596) had significantly higher mean age-of-onset 64.5 years compared to 54.7 for alive males (n=101) (p<0.001). Deceased females (n=304) had significantly higher mean age-of-onset 64.4 years compared to 55.7 for alive females (n=59) (p<0.001). There were 923 patients with available SNP data on MAPT (34 SNPs) and APOE. There was no statistically significant correlation between MAPT and APOE variants and survival.
Conclusion: Female sex and earlier age of onset was associated with longer survival in PD, consistent with other studies. There was no association of MAPT and APOE with survival.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
S. Kola, S. Armasu, D. Weis, O. Ross, D. Maraganore, A. Hassan. Survival in Parkinson’s Disease and Association with MAPT and APOE [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2020; 35 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/survival-in-parkinsons-disease-and-association-with-mapt-and-apoe/. Accessed October 18, 2025.« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2020
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/survival-in-parkinsons-disease-and-association-with-mapt-and-apoe/